The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1887-05-28

SM IlNNODOST'IhEYY)JJ q
that the boxmuat have lain there ever
since the night 4of the robbery. The
theory is that Whoever stole itgmust
have hiddenit'in the riyerb ank,i meanu
ingsa to- fetch, itGwiienEtbe fuss had
blown over, ,bnt the, CURRENT swept It
away Till the tree stopped it.Y ri d8ltts
''Curiousl''s said Colonel lie ar-
chant, slowly, .agss,, ,assgsa Gj syb< ,a
~ Yes. islit ,notp"isliel forced herself
to answer quietly, for the strange ex-
preston b" her Compartments face
troubled her, ,lsheS scarcely knew Why.
II suppose there can be no doubt that
1t was some Of the servants, though.
after such d lapse Of time, It would be,
hopeless to try and bring it ihome to
any one" #Sl sE95t5i'3jaet 81 sao Y,
LIE Marchant looked at her sharply,
and was just going to speak, when
their host interrupted him with some
questions about the Soudan, ana the,
conversation became general till the
ladies retired. lE3Nnl1y'A .'st& T.'E
Miss Clifford had sheltered herself in
the drawing-room behind a large port.
folio Of rare prints to ,thinkp 6lndis-a
turbed over her unexpected meeting
with her old lover, when the subject qe
her thoughts quietly came up and took,
a seat beside her. fii.9 !MISjt sHenaoAt
..- ...NE.I. rl.lf.
II cannot tell you how glad I am
that those diamonds have been2ire-
covered," he said.
$50 am IL she answered. 'sDp, you
know, l feel as If were a clairvoyantei
or something Of the sort, for ever since
the robbery whenever I have been at.
all unwell, my nightmare has been
about those diamonds and the river. I
hear the rushing Of the water quite
plainly,' she went On dreamily, un-
consciously dropping into the old tone
her companion remembered 80 WELL, 81
wonder why it is.'' Hl tang} 4
81 suppose it is because you really
hid the diamonds under the bank, of
Langley water,'' was the startling
answer. #i u n.utHA "4'." Na..
''I hid the diamondsl What on earth
do you meanp You must be mad,
Colonel LIE Marchant!'' ;ma ,atk 90
"No, I am not. 1 saw you do it,"",
he replied quietly. i{h b1oa nl
G"You saw me do it'll Then why toi
goodness did .ou not say so at ooths,
,time?n aAfiEt< ri s'@S5, hes2 't7 ysF f3tF 5,
Because IsOas mad then, Cecil, and
made a horrible mistaken ncs'Sisla
''You thought T. stole the dia-
monds2'
He was silent n y aB
''Then that was why you were so
keen about that poor little lady's
maid?" ,lEi VI
He nodded. fa ,up
''You believed-ohI--and we're try
ing to screen me all the timel'' N. i
"Forgive me, Cecil" .ms2 -
'But do you mean that you actually
saw me take the diamondsp" she asked
In wonder. "P'ease tell mel'' mil
Colonel Lei Marchant stopped over
the book Of prints Miss Clifford was os.
tensibly examining and answered, in a
low voice: s'I had sat up late in the
smoking room, worrying over some
money trouble, when, startled to find
how late it was, I was retreating
silently as could to my quarters. AS
/ was passing along the bed room pas
sage I suddenly saw you In your dress
ing gown come out of Lady Langley's
room carrying tin box. Instinctively
drew behind the curtain Of the stair
case window, and you walked by with
out noticing me. followed you softly
You went to that little side door in the
garden by the drawing room, about
which young Lovat. had chaffed Lang
ley 80 much, unfastened it, and went
out, right across the lawn towards the
river, Then to my horror you bent
over the bank till felt certain you
would slip In, and l was Just rushing
up to catch you when you scrambled
back--wIthout the boxl You returned
as you came by the little door through
which 1 followed you. ana regalned
your room. I was too utterly taken
aback to speak to you for the idea that
you were sleep.walking never struck
me until just now. Next morning,
when the robbery was discovered, re.
membered the box you had carried;
and then the recollection of that tin
case you and Lady Langley had spoken
Of on the previous night flashed across
my mind" tts sl W fg.,. I
''But did you never 60 to look at
that placer" ,s3stl3 ASE.1Ii
eyes, that very day; but though I